Trump trial turns to sex, bank accounts and power: Highlights from the third week of testimony

WASHINGTON (AP) — The alleged sexual encounter at the center of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial got a graphic airing in court this past week as porn actor Stormy Daniels shared her account before a rapt jury.

Daniels’ testimony about her time with Trump was by far the most awaited moment of the trial, which now enters its fourth week of witnesses as prosecutors come close to wrapping up their historic case.

But it wasn’t all salaciousness. Manhattan jurors saw documentary evidence meant to directly tie Trump to the hush money payments that were sent to Daniels in what prosecutors say was an effort to buy her silence in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

A look at what happened over the last week:

THE (IM)BALANCE OF POWER

The jury heard for seven-and-a-half hours from Daniels, who testified in vivid detail about a 2006 sexual encounter she says she had with Trump, which he has denied.

Though she’s shared details before, one striking aspect of her testimony centered on her perception of an “imbalance of power” in the Lake Tahoe hotel suite where Daniels said she and Trump had sex.

With a bodyguard positioned outside the suite, she described Trump as “bigger and blocking the way.” When the sex was over, she added, “It was really hard to get my shoes on; my hands were shaking so hard.”

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Stormy Daniels delivers shocking testimony about Trump, but trial hinges on business records </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline